Big changes coming to York Harbor

Deborah McDermott dmcdermott@seacoastonline.com @dmcdermoSMG

Saturday

Mar 31, 2018 at 4:52 PMMar 31, 2018 at 4:52 PM

YORK, Maine — The face of York Harbor and mouth of the York River will be changing in months to come, when a new wooden pedestrian wharf is installed connecting the Fishermen’s Walk to the Wiggly Bridge causeway, a project that will have ramifications for pedestrians, kayakers and motorists.

The project will begin where a gravel walkway under the north side of the Route 103 bridge ends. It will include a wharf to the causeway and a float from which kayaks and other paddlecraft can launch. When completed in early summer, the crosswalk across Route 103 will be eliminated and a gate installed to prevent pedestrian traffic.

Work will take place at the same time the town is expected to install a new sidewalk near the 12-spot parking area near the Wiggly Bridge, which will continue up to York Street. And it occurs as the town’s Harbor Board grapples with ways to get a handle on paddlecraft traffic in York Harbor, particularly in the congested Harris Island Road/Strawberry Island area near the town dock. For the Harbor Board, this project is considered a plus.

The project was awarded last fall to CPM Constructors of Freeport for $330,000. The town secured two state grants totaling $245,000 and voters approved $150,000 for the project a number of years ago. Selectmen also entered into a $30,000 contract with local firm CLD Engineers to inspect the project during construction.

The wharf is anticipated to change how people use the area around the bridge. Visitor use of the harbor and Wiggly Bridge increased in recent years in part due to high praise on social media. The area south of the Route 103 bridge is clogged with parked cars on the road’s shoulder, along Harris Island Road and even in spaces permitted for fishermen’s use only.

The town maintains a 12-spot parallel parking strip across the street from the causeway near the Wiggly Bridge causeway north of the bridge. Half the spaces are for permitted York residents and the remaining six are open to anyone. Those spots are typically filled throughout the summer as people park to walk over the Wiggly Bridge to Steedman Woods or down Fishermen’s Walk to York Harbor Beach.

A crosswalk runs diagonally across Route 103 from the end of the Fishermen’s Walk to the beginning of the causeway. The town will eliminate it because it comes after a curve in the road and is dangerous. The town will install a gate at the head of the causeway once the wharf is completed “to discourage people from accessing it,” said public works superintendent Dean Lessard.

“If someone really wants to hop over the gate and the guardrail, they can do it but they’re going to have to put some effort into it,” he said, adding that crossing a road without a crosswalk is a violation of public safety regulations.

David Webber, chairman of the Harbor Board, said his board is looking forward to the paddlecraft launch float. The 18- by 10-foot float will be accessed via a gangway that will be built out from the corner of the wharf where it meets the walkway underneath the bridge. The gangway will jut out 50 feet into the river, which Lessard said was key to the Harbor Board so people jumping off the bridge will not hit it.

Only canoes, kayaks and other paddlecraft can tie up at the float and because it’s a small float and the nearby parking spots are so few, “it’s going to be very self-limiting,” Webber said.

“We’re trying to get kayak traffic and launching away from Strawberry Island,” he said.

The board has long been concerned about increasing paddlecraft traffic in the harbor. Last year, it collected data during busy summer weekends, noting the type of vessel, how long it was gone and where the owner parked. Survey work will continue this summer and several others to come.

Selectmen have charged the Harbor Board with working to see if a paddlecraft launch can be added to Goodrich Park, upriver at Rice’s Bridge. The state has put the kibosh on this due to the presence of eelgrass, Webber said. The board and harbor master Drew Donovan are going to make a concerted effort to work with the state to see if there are any acceptable spots.

Meanwhile, the wharf project is nearly ready to begin. Lessard is looking for a final approval from the Harbor Board when it meets April 4, and then the code enforcement office has to issue a permit for the work. With those in hand, Lessard said work will begin by month's end and be completed in June – just in time for the busy summer season.

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